Roman Gladiator Research Paper

"Remember, Roman, that it is for thee to rule the nations. This shall be thy task, to impose the ways of peace, to spare the vanquished, and to tame the proud by war."

"We who are about to die salute you!"

Gladiator (Latin gladius,"sword")

This was the cry of the gladiators, or professional fighters, when they saluted the Roman emperor as they marched about the amphitheater before engaging in combat with one another or with wild beasts for the entertainment of the people. For the most part they were prisoners taken in war, slaves, or the worst classes of criminals. When a gladiator was disabled or disarmed, the spectators turned up their thumbs to indicate that the vanquished man should be spared. If they turned their thumbs
The first combat in Roman history took place in 264 BC, and the fashion rapidly spread. Julius Caesar gave a show at which 320 couples fought, and the Emperor Titus gave an exhibition of gladiators, wild beasts, and sea fights that lasted 100 days and in which 10,000 men fought. Such contests were finally stopped in AD 404, supposedly as a result of the daring of Telemachus, an Asian monk. After he rushed into the arena to try to separate two gladiators, the spectators stoned him to death. Afterward the Emperor Honorius issued an edict suppressing such
The practice of armed men fighting to the death originated in Etruria, in central Italy, probably as a funeral sacrifice. The first gladiatorial exhibition in Rome was in 264BC, when three pairs of gladiators fought as part of a funeral celebration. By 174BC, at a 3-day spectacle, 37 pairs participated. Julius Caesar's large-scale exhibitions (300 pairs on one occasion) prompted the Roman Senate to limit the number of contestants. The largest contest of gladiators was given by the emperor Trajan as part of a victory celebration in AD107 and included 5000 pairs of fighters. The emperor Domitian in AD90 presented combats between women and between dwarfs. Mostly males, gladiators were slaves, condemned criminals, prisoners of war, and sometimes Christians. Forced to become swordsmen, they were trained in schools called ludi, and special measures were taken to discipline them and prevent them from committing suicide. One gladiator, Spartacus, avenged his captivity by escaping and leading an insurrection that terrorized southern Italy from 73 to 71BC. A successful gladiator received great acclaim; he was praised by poets, his portrait appeared on gems and vases, and patrician ladies pampered him. A gladiator who survived many combats might be relieved from further obligation. Occasionally, freedmen and Roman citizens entered the arena, as did the insane Emperor